Summary
After our class discussion about the upcoming start of Daylight Savings Time, third graders became curious about people’s sleeping habits, and were asked to determine what the best bedtime is for students their age, and how much sleep they should be getting each night. After being presented with this problem, students were asked to research this topic by creating and conducting a survey of their classmates, collecting and analyzing the data, and accurately representing their data using either graphs or charts in order to determine the best bedtime and/or the amount of sleep they should be getting each night. After determining the most appropriate bedtime and amount of sleep for students their age based on their research, students wrote a persuasive speech making reccommendations to their teacher and classmates. Finally, students recorded themselves presenting their speeches on the computer, using Photobooth. Students had fun being able to watch themselves give their speeches to the class. Students worked in groups of 2 or 3 over the course of five 1-hour math blocks on this cross-cirricular project that combined math concepts of graphing and elapsed time (measurement), as well as writing, and oral language skills.
TIPC Ratings
This project is Approaching in Research and Information Fluency. Students had to construct their own survey questions of their classmates in order to guide research. They also had to assemble and organize information to address an authentic task.
This project is Approaching in Communication and Collaboration. Students worked in groups, organized roles to address an authentic task, and used tools to facilitate collaboration.
This project is Ideal/Target in Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Students had to select the most appropriate tools (graphs), and use questioning and critical thinking skills to solve an authentic task. They also had to reflect on their role as a critical thinker in order to utilize this information for their future growth.
This project is Developing in Creativity and Innovation. The project asks students to work on a class assignment that blends technology and limited aspects personal choice to generate new ideas.
